Courage Up!
by Genesic
Summary: Just take your hand, and knock on the door right there. “Well, it’s such a nice-looking door, I’d hate to damage it.”- Sora's just recently broken up with Matt, this is Tai's chance! Why is the bearer of courage having problems knocking on her door then?


I don't own Digimon…well I own a few of their old handhelds, but that doesn't count.

* * *

"…." He, Taichi Kamiya, stared at the door unyieldingly, as if hoping it would suddenly just fly open, by some kind of bizarre force.

_Tick_. A minute went by. Had the door really not opened yet? He concentrated harder, willing it to open.

_Tick._ Another minute passed, still he stood there in front of it. The door surely should have melted under his gaze by now, so why was it still in his way?

_Tick._ Yet another minute wasted in front of the door. Maybe it was made of some kind of super material? _I wonder if our door is made out of the same stuff_**,** he thought to himself, almost reaching out to feel it, before quickly pulling his hand back as if it had just touched an open flame. _That was a close one_**, **he mentally panted, not realizing the irony of the moment.

_Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…._ Time continued on without the poor boy, as he remained petrified in front of the door(which, by the way, was _not_ made of any special material), locked in some type of internal struggle.

-----

"Hey there Tai." His sister, Kari Kamiya, greeted the sullen boy with a smile, as he slammed the door behind him. "Oh…didn't go so well either today, huh?" She gave him a pitying stare.

He mumbled a few select phrases in her direction, including one that involved an old fish hook, before dragging himself to his room. Once there, he collapsed on his bed and entered his reverie of self-hatred.

"So much for today's the day." He sighed to himself. "So much for this week's the week!" His sigh grew deeper. "What, is it gonna be the month next? The year?" He stopped this train of thought, before he died of air loss due to a dangerous amount of sighing.

With a grunt of effort, he brought himself to his feet, and walked over to his drawer. Shuffling through his things, he managed to pull out the secret, _secret_, compartment(Kari already knew about the normal secret one). He pulled a small album from the very secret compartment, and began to leaf through it solemnly. "Sora…." He mumbled to himself sadly.

The album wasn't particularly large, but it had quite a surprising amount of photos, either of, or including the auburn-haired girl that made his heart burn. A picture from their old soccer team, with the rest of the digi-destined, that one of her in a dress when he promised not to take pictures…. They were all his secret treasures.

"Sora…" He sighed again, trying to convince himself in his mind that he was _not_ a total stalker. "Why do I have to be such a coward?" He groaned. Why couldn't things be like in the games? Why couldn't he raise his courage just by eating weird things in the fridge? All that did was give him severe stomach problems, and set him back even further!

"She's not seeing Matt anymore." He reminded himself in an effort to boost his courage. "She's single now." He felt a spike of happiness in his stomach(similar to the one he felt after the horrid refrigerator incident). "She's single." He repeated. And there it was again! "All I have to do, is go over there, and confess." His good feeling level peaked, he was on top of the world! "And….get shot down…" He sighed. The top of the world crumbled, and him along with it. "…." Once again he was back in his silent torment, trying to desperately find his salvation. "Maybe some food will help, I'm starving." He suggested to himself, his stomach grumbled in agreement.

He made his way to the kitchen, and began to rummage through the fridge, hoping to find something edible. To his chagrin though, nothing even slightly appetizing could be seen. "Hey Kari? What happened to all of the food? All I see is…._this_!" He shuddered.

"Hmm? Oh right. Mom went another one of her experimental cooking adventures." Kari shrugged, happily eating a cherry-flavored popsicle.

"…What do you think, stomach?" He asked, receiving nothing in reply. "I'll take that as a no." He groaned.

"We've still got one popsicle left." Kari suggested, pointing towards the freezer with her slightly-runny popsicle. "But if you don't eat it, I'm gonna take it." She warned.

"I doubt that will help much at the moment." Tai remarked bitterly, even his stomach gurgled in anger, or maybe that was still hunger? He slowly trudged back to his room. "But don't even think about touching it, it's still mine." He peeked back around the corner to warn his sister, who was nearing the end of her current popsicle.

"Sure, sure." She rolled her eyes in exasperation, turning her attention back to the western movie marathon on TV.

"Maybe I should just give up." He suggested to himself, back in the confines of his darkened room. "Move on, and find somebody else to love. There's that new girl at school, she's pretty hot, if only she didn't have that laugh…" He shook his head, and went back to staring through the album wistfully.

"Whatcha doin?" Kari's voice piped in some time later, shattering his trance.

"AH!" Tai shouted, his album soaring out of his hands. "Don't startle me like that! Haven't I told you not to do that!?" He glared at her in frustration.

"What's this?" She ignored him, picking up the album that had landed right in front of her. "Ooh. You have a collection of Sora photos? How come I didn't know about these?" She teased, flipping through the pages.

"H-Hey stop it! Those are private!" He snatched the book away from her, quickly hiding it back away. "Why can't you have a better hobby than bothering me? Like drugs! Kids love doing drugs these days! Why don't you get into that? I won't have to worry about you when you're all zoned out on the couch." He suggested, half joking, half serious.

Kari gave an indignant laugh. "Sure, and stalking someone is sooo much better, right?" She gave him a huge smirk.

"It's not stalking!" Tai shouted. "I just saved all the pictures of her I had. I didn't follow her around or anything!"

"From the looks of it, you're only a step away." Kari chuckled again. "I don't want to have to explain to my friends why my brother's in jail, okay?"

"It's not like I _want_ to feel like this. I just…can't help it." Tai sighed, his anger crushed by the much larger depression. "I really just wish I could get over it."

Kari's playful grin quickly faltered, a look of sympathy taking its place. "Tai…" She said sadly, coming up to him from behind and wrapping her arms around him in an affectionate hug.

"What's with you? Are there hidden cameras or something? You haven't been so huggy for a long time." He gave a bitter laugh, keeping an eye out for possible camera locations.

"Just cause I got older, doesn't mean I don't like hugging you anymore." Kari smiled to herself, squeezing him tighter. "You're still the best big brother ever. Sora would be lucky to have you."

"…" A small smile broke out on Tai's face. "Thanks Kari, and you're the best little sister too." He reached up, and ruffled her hair playfully. "But I don't know if you're right about that. I can't even wrack up the courage to knock on her door." He sighed again.

"That's just because you're a nice guy. Because you aren't sure she's fully recovered from the break-up yet. You're kind to a fault." Kari chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you sa-!" His answer was cut off by a tight grip on his nose. "Hey cud dat oud!" He struggled like a captured animal, but Kari was a more tenacious predator.

"Not until you _listen to me_." She frowned, holding his nose in a vice grip. "Not only are you a good choice for Sora, you complete her. You two are like two halves of a whole, you need each other. Got it?" She gave a sharp tug on his right nostril.

He nodded fiercely, which only made the pain worsen.

"Good, then I hope you hurry up and tell her soon. I'm getting tired of you being so mopey all the time." She sighed to herself. Hoping her idiot of a brother would finally realize how great of a person he could be.

"Ubbb… Kari? My doze?" Tai muttered, snapping Kari back to attention.

"Oh right! Sorry!" Kari apologized bashfully, releasing the nose and wiping her hands.

"I think it went numb." Tai stroked his nose sympathetically. "There, there. It's okay now, you're safe."

"So you feel like confessing yet?" Kari asked.

Tai turned to her slowly, an odd look on his face. "To you?"

"No!" Kari shouted in embarrassment and anger. "To Sora, you idiot!"

"To Sora….?" Tai paused for a few seconds. "Well, I definitely feel more confident now, but I still think I'd rather fight a rampaging Greymon." He chuckled. "But I'll do my best, Kari!" He said, noticing her peeved expression. "I'm gonna make tomorrow the day!" He shouted.

"Why tomorrow?" Kari asked.

"It's late, I'm tired, and my shows are on today." He explained. "Speaking of which, I think they're about to come on now." He made his way towards the living room.

Kari sighed again. "What an idiot."

"Oh, and don't go through my stuff anymore." Tai ordered.

"Not like this stuff's any worse than the magazines in your mattress." Kari smirked.

"I swear I just read those for the articles." Tai lied, continuing back to the living room.

"You're gonna have your hands full, Sora." Kari chuckled, making note of Tai's hiding spots, and quickly following after him.

----

"_The truth is…I've always loved you, Tai.." Sora stared into his eyes lovingly, her face steadily moving closer._

"_Sora…" Tai said to himself in surprise, not even noticing that the entire world was suddenly pink, that there were flying elephants instead of clouds, and that Diaboromon and Omnimon were in a dance-off nearby. "I feel the same way Sora! I've always loved you too! Since we first met, even when you were with Matt!" He shouted in happiness._

"_Tai…" Sora repeated, her face still moving closer, and more importantly: her lips. _

"_I was just afraid that you wouldn't want me, I was too scared to confess to you." He explained. Diaboromon pulled off seven head spins in the background. He put his hands on her shoulders, savoring the feel of her. He began to move his face closer to hers as well. "But now that I know you feel the same…" _

"_Tai…" Sora repeated again, like a broken record._

_It all felt so perfect to him, yet at the same time, something felt wrong. He wasn't sure what, things weren't as they should be. But Sora's face was only a fraction from his now, he could feel the small aura of warmth radiating from her body._

_And just as they were about to kiss, just as he was about to become the happiest man in the world, and just as Omnimon was about to pull off the most dangerous move in dance-history…..it ended._

"_What?!" Tai shouted in surprise, as everything faded to black._

"_Taichi…" He could hear Sora's voice again. She kept repeating his name._

"_I'm right here, Sora!" He shouted running towards it._

"_Taichi…Taichi…Taichi…" She droned on and on._

"_Wait for me, Sora!" He bellowed._

_----  
_

"Taichi Kamiya, WAKE UUUUP!" His lovely sister roared, startling him out of bed.

"Huh?! What happened!? Where's Sora? Who won the dance-off?" Tai asked, picking himself up off the floor.

Kari shook her head in sadly. "You even _dream_ about Sora?" She mocked.

"Shut, uuuuwaaap…" Tai yawned. "After today, I won't need to. That dream I just had clinches it." He grinned cockily.

"Well let's hope you keep that bravado." Kari chuckled. "You usually lose your confidence by the time breakfast is over."

"Not this time, Little Sis." Tai grinned. "Now come on, I'm starved." He laughed, slinging his unsuspecting sister over his shoulder.

"Wha-Hey! Put me down! Don't treat me like a child!" She struggled to no avail.

"I was thinking more like a sack of potatoes." Tai laughed, lugging her all the way to the kitchen table. "There ya go!" He smiled, depositing her on her seat, before receiving a sharp kick in the shins. "Why is it always the shins with you?" He groaned, hobbling over to his chair.

After doing his best to survive a breakfast made by Mom, and changing out of his pajamas(which Kari had to remind him of), Tai turned to the door with a look of confidence on his face. "I'm off." He said in what he thought was a manly voice. And just as he grabbed hold of the doorknob, he turned to face Kari. "But what if she's not ready yet?"

A few seconds later, Tai found himself being thrown the door by a very angry sister.

"Now get out of here before I burst a vein!" Kari shouted after his fleeing form.

After making sure he was safe, Tai slowly began to trudge towards Sora's apartment complex, each step feeling heavier than the last. A million thoughts rushed through his head: What if it didn't work out, what if it _did _work out, did Omnimon manage to pull off his secret dance move?

As soon as Tai spotted the apartment complex, he felt his stomach gurgle in hunger. Sure he had eaten breakfast, but he couldn't just talk to her when he was still hungry, could he? And with that in mind, he walked off to the nearby convenience store.

-----

"Now then, what to eat?" He asked himself, browsing through the many sweets the store had to offer. Should he have a cinnamon bun or a pork bun? It really depends on the brand after all. And what about drinks? Should he get soda, or should he go for the healthy plan?

"Tai?" A familiar voice caught his attention. He turned to find himself face to face with a close friend of his.

Smart clothes, confident eyes, and shiny hair, this was definitely Yamato "Matt" Ishida. He grinned as Tai walked up to him. "What're you doing here?" He asked.

"I just thought I'd grab a bite to eat." Tai explained. "Mom's cooking can't really qualify as food."

"I hear ya." Matt shuddered, forcing the bad memories away. "But I wonder: Why did you come all the way to this store?"

Tai flinched. "I prefer the selection here." He lied, the selection here sucked.

"Really? Isn't this place awfully close to Sora's house?" Matt grinned. "Are you sure _that_ isn't the reason you're here?"

"Nope, I just love this place's pork buns." Another lie, they weren't worth the effort it took to eat them.

"Well _I_ think you came here to try and confess to Sora again, but I guess I must be wrong." Matt chuckled.

"I guess so."

"Come on man, just confess already." Matt sighed.

Tai nearly dropped his food items, barely saving the floor from the retched pork buns.

"What? You mean _you're_ telling me to confess?" Tai said in disbelief. "To the one you just broke up with?" He stared at Matt like he was an alien creature, just waiting for a second head to sprout from under his lofty hair.

"We weren't right for each other." Matt explained. "It's as simple as that. _You're_ the one who's right for her, Taichi "Scared to Confess" Kamiya." He pointed at him with a packet of strawberry pocky he had just purchased.

"Well I'm happy that you did that for me, but we can't all be as smooth as Yamato "Nice Hair" Ishida." Tai sighed, wishing he could have thought of a better name. "It's not so easy for the rest of us. We can't just get any girl we want."

"Look Tai, I broke up with her because I remembered that I used to have the Crest of Friendship for a reason. Now you need to remember why you once had the Crest of Courage." Matt gave an encouraging smile.

"Thanks Matt, you really are a great friend." Tai smiled back.

"No problem, now go get her. I'll see you later." Matt handed Tai something before quickly leaving the store.

Tai stared at the autographed CD skeptically.

"It'll be worth millions one day!" Matt shouted before walking out of sight.

"Sure, he's more likely to go to the moon before he hits it big." Tai chuckled to himself, putting the CD in his pocket.

----

After eating the food he had purchased from the store owner(who smelled very much like tobacco), Tai found himself across the street from his destination.

"Well, nothing to it, this'll be easy." He said to himself. But why wouldn't his feet move anymore. Did Kari secretly put lead in his shoes? Was this her idea of a prank? How could he get her back? Maybe he could fill her backpack full of lead!

_Will you get off the topic of lead!? _A voice in his head shouted. _Just cross the damn street already!_

"Who are you? My conscience?" Tai asked in awe.

_You mean the voice that tells you the good things to do? No way! I think you're close enough with that one already, you're practically A Christmas card!_

"Am not!" Tai shouted, earning an odd look from a mother and child who were walking by.

_You know you don't have to speak out loud, right?_

_Shut up._

_That's better._

_Now, who are you?_

_I'm your desire, we've been needing to talk for a loooong time now. Now cross the street._

Tai pondered for a moment, the voice had a point. No matter what, nothing could be accomplished from over here. He stepped out in the street, only to be nearly run over by a car.

"Watch where you're going!" The driver stopped to shout at him.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Tai bowed his head in apology, hoping to avoid any trouble.

The man stopped for a second, staring intently at Tai.

"Um… what are you doing?" Tai asked nervously.

"Go to her." The driver said in a serious tone.

"What!? What do you mean by that?" But the driver had already driven away.

_So even the driver's in on that?_ Tai asked his desire.

_Honestly, I've got no clue. The world's a strange place._

"Ah whatever! I'm done with this stupid street!" Tai shouted, dashing across it, nearly getting hit several more times. "Phew! I made it!" He laughed in triumph, ignoring all the laws he had just broken.

----

Up, up, up he went, all the way up to the right floor. Each stair case felt like three eternities, each far too short for him. He took each turn carefully, afraid a sudden team of ninjas may try to get in his way(they didn't show up). Finally he saw it, the indestructible door loomed right in front of him.

"So we meet again." Tai greeted his enemy, and he felt the door acknowledge his presence as well. "Today is the day I finally defeat you." He took a fighter's stance.

Minutes passed, neither fighter backing down. Too much held each in their place. Taichi: Love, worry, Sora. The door: Nails, glue, hinges.

"Why aren't you melting?" Tai growled. Wasn't today supposed to be the day it did? The weather seemed hot enough.

_I hate to interrupt, but why don't you try knocking?_

"Don't be ridiculous…..oh wait, you've got a point." Tai admitted. "But I just can't do it!"

_Just take your hand, and knock on the door right there._

"Well, it's such a nice-looking door, I'd hate to damage it." Tai lied, hoping to get the door's guard down. "Besides, Sora's a girl and I'm a guy, we're just too different." He was really fishing for reasons now.

_Stop messing around. This is for Sora, this is for you. You can do it._

Tai paused, the voice had a point. "Why don't we talk more, Desire?" Tai asked.

_Because it's exhausting dealing with you._

"Fair enough." Tai took a deep breath. "It's not just for Sora, it's for me too." He repeated this mantra to himself, inching his hand towards the door.

He could do it.

He could do it.

….He did it.

_Knock Knock_, the sound made was like music to his ears, heralding the future.

Footsteps! Slowly growing closer!

"Hello..?" The voice of his angel tickled his ears, as she came into his sight. Her voice was a little sad, and so was her expression. "Tai!" But they immediately brightened upon seeing him. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I haven't seen you in forever! Come on in!" She tugged the shell-shocked boy inside quickly. The door closed behind in humbled defeat.

----

Tai sat nervously inside Sora's room, looking around cautiously, afraid that her room may also have cameras. "Thanks for helping me get so far, Desire." He voiced his thanks.

… No response could be heard, not even in the depths of his mind.

"….I guess you want me to fly this mission solo then? Alright I'll do my best." Tai muttered quietly, anxiously awaiting his angel's return.

"Taichi?" It was the angel's mother(the archangel? Seraphim?) who entered the room first. "Where's Sora?"

"She's getting some snacks, Miss Takenouchi." Tai smiled nervously, breathing a sigh of relief inwardly.

"Oh okay then, are you just visiting?" She asked kindly.

"Ah, yeah! I was just worried if she was doing alright, since, you know." He muttered.

"You're so kind Taichi, she's been so depressed lately, she's hardly left her room."

"No, it's nothing, really. I meant to come over earlier, but I was a little busy." He lied.

"Such a good boy, I know you'll make Sora happy." The woman grinned.

"Well I'll do my be-what?" Tai froze in place. Did this woman have ice powers? "H-How did you…"

"It's hard _not_ to know, when you get calls from the neighbors about a strange boy with bizarre hair who keeps standing in front of your door. It's so difficult making up a valid reason why he's there." She gave a fake sigh.

"…" Tai was at a loss for words, he was wondering if he could just leap from the window right now, and drag his broken body back to his room to hide.

"I've got the snacks, Tai." Sora smiled, coming into the room. She set the tray down on the small table, and pushed them towards the middle.

"I'll leave you two alone." Ms. Takenouchi smiled, flashing a hidden thumbs up, and left the room.

"So what brings you here, Tai?" Sora asked, crunching on a cracker.

Tai's life-endangering thoughts were brought to a halt simply by looking at the girl in front of him. _God I love her._ The thought echoed in his head. It had been too long since he had last seen her, his pictures couldn't even do her justice!

"Hello? Tai?" Sora waved a cracker in front of his face.

"Oh sorry!" Tai apologized, reaching for a glass of lemonade. "I just came to make sure everything was okay after…..Matt and stuff." He half-lied.

"Oh…" Sora's face turned slightly crestfallen, causing Taichi to mentally beat himself. "It's a little hard, but I think I'm getting better now. Sorry for worrying you." She smiled at him.

"Are you sure you're okay? A lost love isn't so easy to get over." Tai asked, he knew this from experience of course.

She frowned, before answering back. "I'm not so sure I truly _loved_ him, I just really felt close to him. Maybe I just mistook friendship for love." She sighed.

Tai gulped, hoping that wasn't the case with him. No, that was impossible. Friendship didn't make your heart crush your ribs whenever you saw that person. "I see. .. So what are you going to do now?" He asked.

"I'm not sure, I think I'll stay away from relationships for a bit though, they're too painful." She smiled weakly.

A critical hit.

Tai felt his stomach threaten to return the food from earlier. "Oh…okay, just wondering." He choked out with all his effort. This was a bad idea, he shouldn't be here. "Oh man, I can't believe I forgot! I've got to go, Kari needs my help with something. Sorry, but I have to leave." He made up a lousy excuse, standing back up.

"What?....Oh…well…okay." Sora replied, that crestfallen look returning to her features.

Tai walked stiffly to the door of her bedroom, regretting everything that had happened this entire day. How foolish he had been.

Wait, hold on a second. It was going to end like this? What ending rank was this? F? The bad end?

Hadn't everybody done their best for him? Kari, Matt, that guy in the car, even his own desire….Hadn't they all tried to help him through? And it was going to end like this?

He turned around slowly, staring at the Somber Sora, as she gathered the snacks back on the tray.

"I can't do this." He said.

"What?" Sora looked up towards Tai, a confused expression on her face.

"I can't just leave like this." He repeated. "Sora."

"Y-Yes?" Sora asked, staring at Tai nervously.

"I came here for a totally different reason, I lied earlier." He apologized. "What I came here to tell you was…" He searched for the words. Why had he suddenly forgotten them?

"Yes…" Sora was entirely focused on him now.

"I...I love you." And suddenly the weight was off his chest. He heard her gasp, and continued on. "For the longest time now! Maybe even back when we first met! I've always had these feelings for you! But I didn't know what to say! I was stupid! I still am stupid! I spent the whole week just standing outside, trying to get the courage to tell you!" He laughed as he said this, realizing how absurd he had been. "I know you don't want a relationship right now, but I can wait. I really do love you, even if you don't love me, that doesn't change what I feel!" He panted, the yelling taking the energy from him.

Sora stared at him, for a second, minute, or hour, none of them knew. Her eyes were wide with disbelief, taking in every bit of the boy with his head bowed before her. "….Taichi." She used his full name, suddenly smiling.

"Like I said, you don't have to answer now, but…" It dawned on him suddenly that Sora was tilting his head upwards to look into his eyes.

She stared at him, an emotion he wasn't sure of in her eyes. She gently stroked the side of his face.

And then she kissed him.

He nearly shouted in surprise. Could this really be happening? Was he back in the dream world? Did they still hold dance-offs here?

The deepening of the kiss brought him back to earth. He could feel her lips pushing against his own. He felt her hands run through his hair gently. And, was that her tongue in his mouth?

This was definitely real, he was sure of that. He pushed back against her, deepening it as much as he could(although, he wasn't quite the expert she was)

_I can't believe what I was missing out on this whole week._ His mind sighed in ecstasy. He ran his hands through her hair lovingly, something he had wanted to do since the first time he had ruffled it playfully.

They broke apart for a second, breathing heavily.

"So, you love me too?" Tai asked, still somehow worried.

"You idiot, of course I do." Sora hit him on the head before quickly pulling him back into the kiss.

`In her room, Kari suddenly chuckled to herself knowingly. Matt's cocky grin switched to a true smile for once, as he played for his screaming fans. Ms. Takenouchi closed the door to her daughter's room, deciding that she'd give them a few minutes before total embarrassment. That one creepy driver guy returned to his home, proud of himself.

Mission Accomplished.

* * *

Ha ha ha. Now this was a fun story to write. I don't think I've had so much fun in a while. I hope you guys have fun reading this one too. If not I'll cry T^T.

I dunno exactly where the motivation for this one came from, I think it was multiple sources. I liked how it ended up reading though, a comedic yet serious style, which I think is somewhat reminiscent of another author's(for the digimon section) story , one which I really liked (but it's a secret :P have fun guessing, I'll tell you if you get it right, but It's pretty oooold).

I know the characters are somewhat OOC in this story, but that was kinda the intention. I wanted this one to be fun to read, but to still get the more emotional points across. I hope I've at least somewhat accomplished this.

Another reason for writing this is to cure myself of writer's block(RAAAWR), I think this story may very well be the ticket.

So this is the 4th story I've written for Digimon eh? I wonder if I should keep writing, it can be pretty fun. Well, whether you want to or not, you'll probably be seeing me again around here soon.

Please drop in a review, I like to know what I'm doing wrong, and the occasional thing I do right. Thanks, if you do!

-Genesic


End file.
